Friday

Notes: This shawl is super-sized. I made the Large size and upped the ante by using a worsted weight yarn and larger needles.

The yarn is okay- not terribly soft. There were knots to cut out here and there. I used ALL of the two balls.

The pattern is thorough but some of the symbols she uses in the charts are a little odd to get used to. For example, her purl stitches are blank boxes, which I'm used to representing knit stitches 99.9% of the time. The first few rows are kind of messed up but you can't really tell.

Well, apparently Penny can tell.

The pillows and the shawl total nearly 5lbs of yarn that I've converted in "actual stuff".

Thursday

An embarrassingly long time ago (2008), I started an afghan using super bulky yarn. I got as far as one square:

Yarn: Encore Mega

Needles: US 15

Pattern: A square from The Great American Afghan booklet.

I made the square, marveled at how big it was... and shoved it into a tub with balls and balls of the yarn and stopped thinking about it. I took it out over Christmas break and decided to finally do something about it. I didn't have enough of the yarn for an entire blanket but the square was a perfect fit for one of my two 26 in x 26 in Euro-sized pillows. I made another square in the same pattern and finished them as pillow covers:

I made half-sized panels for the back and added buttons to make a closure- so that the cover can be removed and washed. Because cat barf. It will inevitably happen.

I didn't make any kind of button holes- the yarn is so bulky that I just used the stitches as button holes.

These two pillows took 16 balls of yarn. SIXTEEN. But, there is only 64 yards per ball and it takes approximately 30 minutes to knit an entire ball, so it's not too bad. Other than the billion (maybe I'm exaggerating) ends to weave in.

Nothing like knitting through 3.5 pounds of yarn to whittle away at the yarn stash!

Monday

It's a single-seater. It is currently at a family member's, waiting for the electric start to be fixed. It still starts fine with the regular pull. I've never owned or driven a snowmobile, so this past Saturday I got my first lesson and drove it around a bit. SO easy and SO fun. One lever to go, one lever to stop. Easy. I still need to get the right kind of gear and I won't be going on any VAST trails this year but I finally have a snowmobile! Now we're looking for one for Dollar.

Wednesday

A farm on my hill has peacocks, which are out and about (in the road!) now and then. I love to get a picture when I can:

Finally blocked a large shawl that I knit over Christmas break. I'm wrapping up a pair of super-bulky pillow covers. Being able to knit through a ball of yarn in 30 minutes is soooooo satisfying. Will need to visit the craft store to find buttons for the closure. I have a couple works trips coming up and I think socks will be my travel knitting. I only need to make two more afghan squares to finish all the pieces I will use for an aran blanket. And I have one more pair of slippers to felt.

Tuesday

Had a long weekend. Friday I had a dentist appointment (yaaaaay- not) and had a surprise trip to the vet. Penny is prone to conjunctivitis and Thursday night she was having trouble with both her eyes (she also licked a bald spot on her stomach). I have several tubes of leftover ointment and put some in but this only seems to make her eyes worse. Friday afternoon I brought her down and this was the first time a vet told me she has feline miliary dermatitis which seems to be triggered by either an allergy or stress. I got new ointment and after several days of application morning and evening, her eyes appear to be getting better.

Thursday

Went to Higher Ground in Burlington on Tuesday evening to see That 1 Guy:

We first saw him open for Buckethead years ago. He plays an instrument of his own invention called The Magic Pipe. He plays with his hands, with a drumstick (held "backwards"), with a bow... with his feet. He plugged in a cowboy boot and played it. He plugged in a saw and playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The way he performs is totally surreal and mind-bending but the music is catchy, highly listenable, smart and funny. That 1 Guy is a performer that I will always want to go see live if he's within a 100 mile radius.

He's on tour now. You should definitely go see him if he's going to be within a 100 mile radius of you.

Wednesday

Tuesday

Years ago (I'm talking 10 years ago) I bought some quarters from Joann's and made a simple square top to see if I was into quilting. Well, it turns out I'm not. So I folded everything up and shoved it into a box.

I heard about a place in Fairlee, VT that finishes quilts. They have a big quilting machine and software that can stitch various designs and they can take care of everything. But it was a little pricey and I'm cheap so...

As a Christmas gift, Dollar said he would pay to have it finished. So I pulled the top out to measure the area. Penny "helped":

I brought it up to Barnyard Quilting on Saturday. I picked out the batting, thread and quilt design. The woman who helped me was so nice and helpful and accommodating. They have so many amazing projects on display around the shop, I felt a little sheepish bringing in this thing of random squares. But I can't wait for it to be finished (at the end of the month). Will it be enough to push me over the edge and buy a sewing machine and take up quilting? Possibly. But probably only if Dollar keeps paying to have my quilts finished for me.

Monday

Murderface is my buddy. He's sleeps with me every night, at my side or between Dollar and I, for all 8 hours. Every now and then he skips a night and sleeps downstairs but that's so rare. I love him so much for this. He's such a chill, sweet cat. I used to post pictures of him here all the time when we were living at the apartment- he was an only kitty and he went outside- there were lots of photo opportunities. Now there are two more cats and he doesn't get to go outside. Penny is usually at my side all the time, which is why there are so many pictures of her but Murderface is #1 cat in the house. He's never bad (even when he's bad), he gets his meals first, he's not malicious like Santana nor skittish like Penny. He's just the best cat ever.

P.S. He's not sick or super old and frail. I just don't say these things about him enough.

Friday

Dollar's handmade Christmas gifts were a little late but the did get finished:

Iron-on patterns from Sublime Stitching. The one with thistles I made as an homage to the handkerchief that William Wallace keeps with him his entire life in the movie Braveheart.

The hankies themselves are organic, cotton and a heavier fabric than most others I've seen but they're still too delicate. I'm looking for rugged, white cotton handkerchiefs. If anyone has a good source, please let me know.

Thursday

Pretty much stuck to the pattern. For the sleeves/cape, I ended up using a mohair/silk blend because the acrylic worsted I was using was just too heavy. Now the sleeves and cape are soooo soft and airy. I added glass safety eyes- it was hard to get the eyelids right. Without them, she looked totally alarmed. Get the angle wrong and she looks either super sad or super angry. Now, she just looks bored to me. Which is the best I can hope for, I guess. And I added lips because Dollar thought she looked weird without a mouth.

Wednesday

I was lucky enough to take a double-knitting class with Lucy Neatby a couple years ago. I made a couple small double-knit dishcloths and started a larger wall hanging. The pattern is simply a chart on Ravelry suitable for any many types of crafts: knitting, filet crochet, rug hooking, cross-stitch.

After a year-long hiatus, I finally finished it in time to give as a Christmas gift:

The nice thing about double knitting is that there's no wrong side. Each side is an inverse in color and picture of the other side.

I like to think of it as a brown bear on one side and a polar bear on the other. I was pretty sad to see this one go- I absolutely loved the finished project. Thankfully, the pattern author has so many other charts she offers for free- Spirit Eagle, Spirit Caribou, Spirit Fox. I'm tempted to do a Spirit Beaver.

Most of the charts come in two formats- square and knitting. I accidentally knit the square chart, which is why my finished piece is rectangular. Be mindful to knit the "knitting" chart, which has the elongated stitch boxes.

I need to work out a different needle to use for double-knitting, though. I used Knit Picks Rainbow Options circular, which I like because they have such sharp tips. But the wooden tip on the US 5 size that I used was way too long and once the project started to grow, it was hell on my wrists. Next time, I will use a circular needle with a much shorter tip.

Tuesday

I bought a couple bags of miscellaneous seashells from a thrift store and a craft store. I suddenly had 1,000 shells and started perusing Pinterest for craft ways to use them. I saw an old printer's drawer with shells glued in and hung like a work of art. The small spaces for movable type were a perfect fit to showcase different shells. I copied the idea with a curio tray:

Given away for Christmas but thankfully I still have 975 shells leftover and plan on making another for me. The only time consuming part of the project is pawing through all the shells and placing them in compartments just so. Then hot glue-gunning everything down only takes 10 minutes.

Monday

Vacation over :( It was so nice to have nearly two weeks off. Of course, the first week was a frantic blur of trying to finish up presents in time but the second week? Ahhh. So relaxing. I started a new knitting project just for me and did an epic marathon of Gilmore Girls (it's sad how homophobic and sexist the show is- and their problems are so inane and self-inflicted; I've started referring to the program as "Rich White Female Problems").

It was nice to spend all day cuddling with the cats. For the first few days, they'd circle me after breakfast, like "What are you still doing here? Are you staying? Yay!" After a week, they were like, "Go back to work already. You're permanently damaging my sleep cycle with your coffee-making and laundry-doing at all hours of the daytime!" Eventually, they started to turn on each other: